The funniest scene with Kano has to be as the camera pans across the audience at the guitar recital concert at the start of 'The Troubled Spirit' episode.There he is, sitting in the front row, looking absolutely bored out of his skull, thinking - "Why oh why did I pay top prices for a front row seat for this drivel."Makes me chuckle anyway

SPACE 1899 wrote:The funniest scene with Kano has to be as the camera pans across the audience at the guitar recital concert at the start of 'The Troubled Spirit' episode.There he is, sitting in the front row, looking absolutely bored out of his skull, thinking - "Why oh why did I pay top prices for a front row seat for this drivel."Makes me chuckle anyway

s99fan wrote:Underutilized, you mean. I appreciate it was the era, but how very interesting it would have been to see Kano, Morrow, Benes, Aleksandr and but of course, Carter, fleshed out and developed.

Clifton Jones did a fine job in his portrayal. I can see the computer engineer in him as he defends his beloved Computer from the slurs of his comrades.

That's exactly the way that Martin Landau wanted it. Take a listen to the audio file of Nick Tate's interview at the 2005 Space 1999 convention (available on Captain Phils website) and you'll hear it from Nick himself.

I think that if I were around Kano for any length of time, I wouldn't be able to resist trying to play some sort of joke on him. He gives the impression of a bookish, retiring guy totally absorbed in his own field, without a sense of humor. Except that, no, I'll bet he does have a sense of humor, a dry one, and he'd let loose with it the moment you started to think you'd pulled something on him....

We all want to know these people better, but often we're better off not getting what we want. One great thing about year one was that priority was given to the themes of each episode, and the overall feel of isolation and alien-ness. There's only so much time available in an hour-long story, after dealing with wonders of an unknown, nearly unknowable universe.

Magnus Greel wrote:We all want to know these people better, but often we're better off not getting what we want. One great thing about year one was that priority was given to the themes of each episode, and the overall feel of isolation and alien-ness. There's only so much time available in an hour-long story, after dealing with wonders of an unknown, nearly unknowable universe.

Disagree, to a degree. If the series had continued in series one format, I very much feel subtle exploration of character backgrounds would have enhanced the interdynamics and development of the plot. Granted, I would not want Coronation Street level histrionics, but knowing how and why the characters got into the space programme, their fears and aspirations, where ion terra firma they grew up, that would have enhanced the story, not detracted from the main thrust which you so admirably summarize.

Disagree, to a degree. If the series had continued in series one format, I very much feel subtle exploration of character backgrounds would have enhanced the interdynamics and development of the plot. Granted, I would not want Coronation Street level histrionics, but knowing how and why the characters got into the space programme, their fears and aspirations, where ion terra firma they grew up, that would have enhanced the story, not detracted from the main thrust which you so admirably summarize.

Thanks... and I agree, as long as it's done economically, as in s1. I wouldn't want much more time devoted to character's individual lives and backgrounds, but a bit more could work. Gradually we'd have found out more about these people just by seeing more episodes with small concentrated character moments.

"Lost" is a very different program, though, being made for a different purpose, and I wouldn't want anything close to that level of character background. Sp:99 is far more about what's out there, and its implications for history and humanity, than it is about the individuals involved. "Lost" is all about characters. Sp:99 has a much different vantage point, and a different scale to it.

Last edited by Magnus Greel on Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:04 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : as usual i made mistakes)

Kano's brain implant/computer interface. It would have been interesting to learn more about that program, why he was part of it, and how it "drove" him to Alpha, if that's what happened. Some real potential character development there.

Speaking of character development, can't remember which novel it was, but in one of the Space 1999 novels there is a passage where with the approach of some imminent danger, Kano was clutching some kind of medallion ? and there followed a description of his home life and who gave him the medallion.Anyone remember which novel this was in ???

Senmut wrote:Kano's brain implant/computer interface. It would have been interesting to learn more about that program, why he was part of it, and how it "drove" him to Alpha, if that's what happened. Some real potential character development there.

It's character development with real science fiction content, so that would be good, I think.